Weinberg Lens: Scholarly Protector

Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation, watches over students as they seek the enlightenment of knowledge in the Martin Reading Room at Deering Library.

“As the guardian of order, Vishnu has a special relationship withdharma, or sacred law and duty,” explains Assistant ProfessorMark McClish, who studies classical Hinduism. “As such, his image communicates to students the importance of fulfilling theirdharma: to work diligently and do their best.”

The stained-glass medallion is among the 68 created for Northwestern in the early 1930s by G. Owen Bonawit, an artist whose work also adorns the libraries of Yale, Duke and other universities.